Railway car side door



May 5, 1936. G. G. LYNCH RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOQRv Filed March 6; 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet l May 5, 1936. G. G. LYNCH RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOOR Filed March 6,- 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Zz-'ovenor A George 6: Lyne/y May 5, 1936. l G, LYNCH 2,039,430

' RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOOR Filed March 6, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 F37. 6 Jrs-g. 5

Erl/verbor eozge Lynch Patented May 5., QS

UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE 11 Claims.

Side doors of railway freight cars are generally arranged to slide horizontally to open or close the door opening and anti-friction rollers are provided between the door and the supporting element to reduce the effort required to move the door. sudden stopping or starting of the car bangs or slams it against the front or back stop causing damage to the car and the door and resulting in a leaky car. Even if the door is locked such inertia causes considerable strain upon the locking mechanism. An objectk of my Ainvention is to transfer the weight of the door from the antifriction rollers to a rigid part of the door and thence directly to the track so that the tendency of the door to move longitudinally of the track will be resisted by the friction between such rigid part of the door and the track, thereby retaining the door in a predetermined position. It is desirable to retain the door in a closed position or in full open position; however, my arrangement can be varied to retain the door in any position therebetween. The increased weight of the doors caused by the metallic reinforcements used thereon and the use Yof all steel doors has increased the necessity for such an arrangement.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a typical railway car door equipped with my improved fixtures.

my roller brackets showing the eccentric action of the cam axle upon the roller.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan View of one of my brackets, roller and associated parts.

Figs. 5 and 6 show the cam axle in detail.

The general arrangement of a railway car Side door equipped with my improved device is shown in Fig. 1 wherein the usual parts of the car are shown, such as side sill I; front door post 2; front door stop 3; rear side door post 4 and back door stops 5.

The bottom edge of the side door I0 is provided with a stiffener or track II which runs upon a plurality of rollers I2 mounted in brackets I3 secured to the car. The drawings show a Z- bar. stiffener with the web I6 positioned horizontally with the inner arm I8 depending behind the roller I2 tov limit the movement of the door away from the car. Similar rollers 20 are also provided to support the door when in open or partially open position.

Each bracket is secured preferably to the side 'Ihe inertia of such a door caused by the Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of one of sill I of the car by the rivets 22 and is provided with a wall 24 having an aperture 26 therein forming a bearing for the roller axle 28. The axle is provided with a cam upon which the roller I2 is mounted. 'Ihe bar 34 or member connects the several brackets together to hold them in alignment and in proper spaced relation `to each other and preferably rests upon a shoulder 36 of each bracket. This bar may be provided with a plurality of apertures 38 forming bearings for the respective roller axles.

The several axles are preferably simultaneously actuated by a shaft mounted upon the car and extending longitudinally thereof which is provided with mitre gears 52 which actuate mitre gears 54 mounted upon the respective axles 28. The walls 56 and 58 of the bracket form suplports and b-earings for the shaft journals 60--62. The journals 60 are provided with shoulders 64 to prevent longitudinal movement of the shaft. The collar 66 prevents movement of the shaft in the opposite direction. The shaft 56 is rotated by the lever 'I0 attached preferably at one end thereof, The drawings show the cams projecting downwardly when lever 'I0 extends downwardly, but the most desirable arrangement is to have the lever 'I0 extending upwardly when the cams are extending downwardly. The lever 'lll may then be turned into thehorizontal position 84 in bracket 86. However, in either position they come within the scope of the invention. The lip I2 and projection 'I6 retain the lever and shaft in these predetermined positions. In Fig. 2 the circle 80 shows the roller in its upper position and the circle 82 shows the roller in its lower position. If desirable the member 34 may be arranged to support the door instead of the brackets when the door is in closed position.

The lever 'IIJ may be pivotally attached to the shaft (as shown) so that when the door is closed (andl supported by the brackets) the lever may be moved to a horizontal position, as shown at 84, and supported by the bracket 86. The pivotal arrangement allows the lever to be moved from behind the lip I2 and projection 16 when the simple rigid lip and projection are used.

When the device is as shown in Fig. l the door rests upon the bracket (or member 34) independently of the rollers so as to frictionally resist movement of the door longitudinally of the car. -To move the door the lever is swung to the position I4 which shifts the weight of the door from the brackets (or member 34) to the rollers.

Railroad companies rules require that side doors for house ca-rs be closed before the car is moved, therefore, supposedly it is only necessary to shift the weight of the door from the rollers to the brackets (or the member 34) when the door is in closed position or partially closed position (when the cars are used for transportation of perishable commodities the cars are frequently moved with the doors partially open for ventilation) therefore, the rollers 88 beyond the door opening may be mounted on ordinary axles without cams. However, cars are frequently moved in service with the doors fully open and it may be desirable to have all of the rollers mounted on cam axles, in which event I would preferably employ twodisconnected preferably aligned shafts meeting adjacent the rear edge of the door opening and Ieach provided with an operating device similar to the lever 10.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur topersons skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. In a railway car, means for supporting a slidable door comprising a plurality of brackets mounted on the car, a substantially horizontal axle mounted in each bracket and provided with a cam, a roller mounted upon each cam, said rollers normally supporting the door, and means to simultaneously rotate said axles so that the cam action lowers the door until the door engages the brackets which thereupon support the door independently of the rollers.

2. In a railway car, means for supporting a slidable door comprising a plurality of brackets mounted on the car, a member connecting said brackets, a substantially horizontal axle mounted in each bracket and provided with a cam, a

roller mounted upon each cam with the upper surface thereof above the top of said member, said rollers normally supporting the door, and means to simultaneously rotate said axles so that the cam action lowers the door until the door engages the member which thereupon supports the door independently oi the rollers.

3. In a railway car, means for supporting a slidable door comprising a plurality of brackets mounted on the car, a substantially horizontal axle mounted in each bracket and provided with a cam, a roller mounted upon each cam, said rollers normally supporting the door, and means to simultaneously rotate said axles sothat the cam action lowers the dcor until the door engages the brackets which thereupon support the door independently of the rollers, said last mentioned mea-ns comprising a shaft mounted upon the car provided with mitre gears which actuate mitre gears mounted upon the respective axles.

4. In a railway car, means for supporting a slidable door comprising a plurality of brackets mounted on the car, a substantially horizontal axle mounted in each bracket and provided with a cam, a roller mounted upon each cam, said rollers normally supporting the door, means to simultaneously rotate said axles so that the cam action lowers the door until the door engages the brackets which thereupon support the door independently of the rollers, said last mentioned means comprising a shaft mounted upon the car provided with mitre gears which actuate mitre gears mounted upon the respective axles,

and a device to hold said cams in such positions that the rollers support the door.

5. In a railway car, means for supporting a slidable door comprising a plurality of brackets mounted on the car, a substantially horizontal axle mounted in each bracket and provided with a cam, a. roller mounted upon each cam, said rollers normally supporting the door, means to simultaneously rotate said axles so that the cam action lowers the door until the door engages the brackets which thereupon support the door independently of the rollers, said last mentioned means comprising a shaft mounted upon the car provided with mitre gears which actuate mitre gears mounted upon the respective axles, and a device to hold said cams in such positions that the rollers support the door, which device may also be used to hold the cams in such positions that the brackets support the door.

6. In a railway car, means for supporting a slidable door comprising a plurality of brackets mounted on the car, a substantially horizontal axle mounted in each bracket and provided with a cam, a roller mounted upon each cam, said rollers normally supporting the door, means to simultaneously rotate said axles so that the cam action lowers the door until the door engages the brackets which thereupon support the door independently of the rollers, said last mentioned means comprising a shaft mounted upon the car provided with mitre gears which actuate mitre gears mounted upon the respective axles, and a device to hold said cams in such positions that the rollers support the door, such device comprising an angularly disposed lever attached to said shaft and a lip secured to the car to retain said lever in a predetermined position.

7. In a railway car, means for supporting a slidable door comprising a plurality of brackets mounted on the car, a substantially horizontal axle mounted in each bracket and provided with a cam, a roller mounted upon each cam, said rollers normally supporting the door, means to simultaneously rotate said axles so that the cam action lowers the door until the door engages the brackets which thereupon support the door independently .of the rollers, said last mentioned means comprising a shaft mounted upon the oar .provided with mitre gears which actuate mitre gears mounted upon the respective axles, and a device to hold said cams in such positions that the rollers support the door, which device may also be used to hold the cams in such positions that the brackets support the door, such device comprising a lever attached to said shaft, a lip secured to the car to retain said lever in a predetermined position, and a projection secured to the car to retain said lever in place after the shaft has been rotated a predetermined amount.

8. In a railway house car, in combination, a sliding door, a plurality of spaced brackets secured to said car adapted to frictionally support said door, rolling means carried by said brackets and means for projecting said rolling means into engagement with said door for elevating said door.

9. In a railway house car, in combination, a, sliding door, a plurality of spaced brackets secured to said car adapted to frictionally support said door, a roller for each of said brackets, means journaled in each bracket and carrying said rollers, a member connecting said means for Vsimultaneous movement and lever means for actuating said member for the purpose set forth.

10. In a railway house car, in combination, a sliding door, a plurality of spaced brackets secured to said car adapted to frictionally support said door, a roller for each of said brackets, means journaled in each bracket and carrying said rollers, a member connecting said means for simultaneous movement, and lever means for actuating said member for the purpose set forth, said member being disposed in proximity to said car to prevent damage thereto.

11. In a railway house car, in combination, a sliding door; means for supporting the door comprising a plurality of spaced brackets secured to said car, a member adapted to be frictionally engaged by the door and roller means carried by said brackets; and means for projecting said roller means into engagement with said door for elevating said door from said member.

GEORGE G. LYNCH. 

